May 11, 2010

After Effects team: submit requests for CS6

The Adobe After Effects Facebook page says that the AE team was "sitting in a conference room this afternoon, hatching plans for what we'll tackle next. You can submit feature requests ... (we review them all), or comment here to give us a general sense of your priorities."

Maybe better features can be added to existing features in CS Next, with continued refinement of Roto Brush and some massive initiative on the neglected 3D feature set. The inclusion of Freeform was a very nice band-aid though. For several years new 3D features in AE have relied on Photoshop 3D -- which is trumpeted by Photoshop some fans but questioned by AE users familiar with actual 3D applications. It would make more sense if 3D was designed for the higher-end application and flowed down to the more general population; Photoshop users would benefit tremendously too.

NOTE: Please be sure to let Adobe know directly via:

https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

How about writing in a node system yet keep the layer system so artist can choose what they work best in. If you are doing basic compositing or graphics work, then you would perhaps choose the layer view, but if you're a feature film compositor, you would choose the node view.

Also instead of adding new plugins, how about fixing the current tools for better performance and power. For example, the tracker. We all know it's not that powerful, so why not rewrite the algorithms so it can handle complex shots, much like Nuke's tracker.

A true 3D system would be very benificial since most vfx artist's are now compositing in 3D, using geometry, lights, and cameras.

Perhaps better color correction tools. Also, maybe rewrite the application engine so it can offer real time support.

Thanks Adobe! :D

Anonymous said...

3d tracker indcluded mybe?

Sean said...

What are your problems with AE's tracker? I have never had a problem with it, and prefer it over many other trackers, and I have been using AE on feature films for over 7 years now. AE's tracker is very powerful, one of the fastest, and has enough options that its easily possible to set it to so it rarely looses what its tracking.

And better color correction tools? While levels and color balance are usually all that's necessary, AE ships with Color Finesse! What better color correction tool could you possibly hope for?

Anonymous said...

Instances. There is a plugin called Echospace but for me it is rather bloated. It would be great to be able to use an instance of a layer and be able to repeat it. I am thinking animated charts and graphics here perhaps. It wouldn't have to be MoGraph like although that would be cool, but it would be great to have a way to repeat a layer, that wouldn't take up so much memory. Also I guess forests with instances trees would be another example

Thomas said...

why feature request again. Do these guys from the Ae team do not read their own Blog entries, Community Forum entries (several tousand of feature entries from the last couple of years??) and entries from Mograph Blogs all over the world discussing AE?
Plus all the feature requests that have been given via FR Form at Adobe?

What's wrong with them still aksing for requests?
There is plenty to read for the next 18 Months.

Anonymous said...

Well the tracker slip and slides a lot and when their is tons of grain on the footage, AE can have a difficult time tracking. Nuke doesn't have a problem with this. Just design a better tracking system so it can handle even the most complex shots. Even the function of having 3D camera tracking would be super nice.

Rich said...

Some people do seem to have success with the AE tracker, though inclusion of Mocha is some sort of recognition that many do not.

Hey have you posted a feature request?
https://www.adobe.com/go/wish

I agree that unfulfilled wishes can be frustrating after years of waiting.

Unknown said...

i only wish they support AVCHD format on the next version

thierry said...

i have just tryed the foundry's "motion tracker" a few days ago and it's work very well.. it's like having "boujou" inside AE!
we all know now that tracking pixel is less efficient than tracking areas and mocha solve a lot thing now, it is not integrated in AE, maybe next time? ( copy and paste are prehistoric way, don't you think?)

Anonymous said...

If only after effects have a true 3d system built in like nuke have, it would benefit most users who do 3d composition and all the vfx stuffs on daily basis.
And also the flowchart is nice to have, but also inclusion of node base will surely rise after effects to the top.
Hope to see these changes in next version.

Rich said...

Better 3D AND node seem unlikely in one upgrade, and a long time coming in any case.

AE is like a giant ship of code that's not so quick to turn. Compounding that problem is the corporate culture, which itself is beholden to Wall Street expectations. I think that after a recent very good quarter, Adobe stock went down!

And it's unlike that executives at Adobe would read this, so the formal feature request form is the best recourse.

Anonymous said...

CUDA acceleration for AE should be a must have... Even at rendering.

Real 3D geometry.

Better ProEXR support... using the newer plugins.

The plug-ins from The Foundry should be preinstalled. Motion Blur instead CC Force MB, and Rolling Shutter is a must have in this VDSLR era.

Maybe Rowbyte's Plexus should be a cool feature for a new version.

Nucleus Pro have a lot of cool feature, and the 'free' scripts of aescripts.com are totally must have for a PRO user. Consider it!

And of course, these techniques in this video shold be a huge leap for the human mankind.... :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCr96ldClz4

entertainment33 said...

Please Adobe, i have been with you since version 5 of premiere and after effects. You must enable full 3D for high end compositing like nuke. More features for roto and paint work. No one beats AE in motion graphics work. Give us the same deal for visual effects compositing so we don't have to consider any other package as Adobe is awesome.

Rich said...

Thanks for the thoughts.

One issue is that NO ONE from the AE team may see this post or your comments -- even if they were inclined to do the extra work and enter features in the request form for you.

Somehow that seems unlikely, so you might consider going the official route too.

https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform

Plus there's a profit level required; Wall Street is irrational enough as it is. Nuke has the support of an unusual company.

Unknown said...

Incorporating a true 3D system into After Effects CS6 would not only be a great advancement in After Effects, but also bring the software up to a level where it competes with similar software such as Cinema 4D etc.

More plug-ins that incorporate true 3D effects would be outstanding as well.

Also, just like in Photoshop CS5, there should be an equivalent of the magic eraser tool. Something which can mask out objects automatically, or a magic lasso tool.

Thanks for creating the best creative software anyway though Adobe :) You guys truly are awesome!

Unknown said...

Incorporating a true 3D system into After Effects CS6 would not only be a great advancement in After Effects, but also bring the software up to a level where it competes with similar software such as Cinema 4D etc.

More plug-ins that incorporate true 3D effects would be outstanding as well.

Also, just like in Photoshop CS5, there should be an equivalent of the magic eraser tool. Something which can mask out objects automatically, or a magic lasso tool.

Thanks for creating the best creative software anyway though Adobe :) You guys truly are awesome!

ftbfelix said...

an ability to force after effects not to include layers outside the composition/3D camera view to improve render time...

Also, the graphics card should be used as acceleration for the actual final render...

I don't want any plug ins that won't allow multiprocessing like the effect box blur does now, fix them, remove them, or give a warning when applying them...

Native 3D support is a real must...

Anonymous said...

Stop the timeline from auto-repositioning! The X key is useless because of this.

Anonymous said...

Allow locked layers to be selected but prevent changes, so you can look at the properties without having to unlock it. Also, if a layer is locked you shouldn't be able to turn the eye on or off.

Anonymous said...

Implement Nuke "Tab and Type" style of applying effects.

Greg said...

It’s too easy to move and rotate layers accidentally. Each property should have it’s own lock ability, which should have a preference of on or off by default.

Greg said...

Every color of the interface should be customizable. If I want a dark interface with black text I should be able to.

Greg said...

Autosave needs to wait for idle time rather than interrupting. Currently, autosave will cancel any operation it interrupts mid-stream.

Greg said...

Cmd-W should work when closing the layer window - just like any other window.

Greg said...

Shift-Opt-Cmd-N should always give you a new viewer window rather than a new folder if you happen to not have the comp window selected.

Greg said...

The graph editor should be shown in the comp window or layer editor.

Anonymous said...

Show/hide all layer controls should simply be a button at the bottom of the comp window. There’s plenty of room.

Anonymous said...

K and J keys should have options. Next visible keyframe, marker or keyframe in selected layer options.

Anonymous said...

Frame forward and backward buttons in timeline, as well as jump X frames back or forward button.

Anonymous said...

Clicking on a widget should not reposition the layout of the timeline window! One click open - one click close without moving the mouse. Currently, opening any widget will move the layer in the timeline. To close it you have to find it and click it.

Anonymous said...

The preferences should have a layout option for such things like position of A/V features on the left or right of the layer name.

Anonymous said...

The scrollwheel should be used to frame forward with the Cmd key, as well as Shift-Cmd-Scroll to jump x number of frames.

Anonymous said...

The filter in the timeline should have check boxes for what to show like “Layer,” “Expressions” and “Effects …” The filter should also have an option for search - selected layer(s) or entire comp. Currently in order to use the filter you have to deselect everything and if you search for a name that happens to be contained in every layer like “Transform” it’s totally useless. The filter should not consider descriptions or properties that are contained in every layer as search criteria. Also, it should have the ability to show only Cameras, Adjustment layers, solids, footage ...

Anonymous said...

There needs to be a Freeze window button so that when you have multiple views open and you’re adjusting something on one you don’t have to wait for all of them to update. Put an eye button in the tab like 3D apps. Open eye would be live update, closed eye would be no update. Or the ability to stop downstream updates with a button while allowing active comp updates.

Rich said...

Please be sure to let Adobe know directly via the :

https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform